


Stay

by blackcoffeeandteardrops



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-12
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-11-13 03:38:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11176224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackcoffeeandteardrops/pseuds/blackcoffeeandteardrops
Summary: After being rescued from near death in the desert, Lucifer and Chloe have a much needed conversation while she nurses him back to health.





	Stay

**Author's Note:**

> As someone who literally entered this fandom a little more than a week ago, I had no idea I'd fall for these two so fast. It takes a special kind of OTP for me to care enough about them to write fic, so I guess that's saying something. Anyway, hurt/comfort is my jam, if you didn't know. I'm sure this scene has already been written by others & is likely to be used all summer in post-ep fics, but hey. It was fun to write. Thanks for reading!

The light was dim as Chloe entered the loft. She peered through the shadows, spotting Lucifer lying in repose on the couch, but as she opened her mouth to announce her presence, his voice echoed through the room.

“Who let you in here?”

She paused a few feet away from the couch, wondering how he could’ve known, although considering everything she’d heard from Maze in the past three days, she knew anything was possible. “Maze told me they brought you here rather than the hospital after they found you, so I needed to see for myself that you were okay.”

“Okay,” Lucifer replied, tilting his head over the top of the couch, a laugh bubbling out as he did so, though there was no energy behind it. “Detective, if Maze or Amenadiel have given you the slightest inkling as to what I’ve endured for the last few days, you’d know “Okay” is hardly not how I’d be described at the moment.”

Chloe bowed her head, reaching out to rake a hand through his hair, and the way he instantly recoiled before relaxing into her touch did not go unnoticed. “So you’re not okay, and I get it. But we’re partners, right? So tell me what I can do to make it better.”

He shook his head, shutting his eyes tight and breathing in deep. “There’s nothing you can do. That anyone can do, in fact. You should probably go, Detective, but I appreciate you stopping by.”

“They found you half naked in the middle of a desert, with your skin blistered and suffering from dehydration. You’ve been missing for three days, so excuse me for being the slightest bit concerned. You’re my friend, Lucifer, so I’m not leaving,” Chloe replied, defiantly stepping around the sofa to get a better look at his condition. She’d been part of the rescue team, albeit from afar, and while they’d skirted around the truth at first, she quickly grew tired of the excuses they’d offered and demanded the truth. To say she’d been surprised would be accurate, and she supposed she was still adjusting to learning the truth about who Lucifer was, but there was a strange sense of comfort in knowing he’d been telling the truth all along.

He winced, reaching over to turn on a nearby lamp, although she guessed it was more for her benefit than his own. She didn’t know all the sordid details--Maze insisted some things had to be shared by the man himself--but if it were all true, his ability to see in the dark was entirely possible. He waggled his eyebrows, gesturing to the scorch marks and blisters left in part from being in the sun far too long. He’d only been home for a matter of hours, and they still hurt like, well--Hell, he supposed, but they were healing remarkably well. “All good, see? You can go now.”

Chloe frowned, setting her purse on the table and perching herself next to him, fully aware of how quickly he’d moved away from her touch. “Why are you in such a hurry for me to leave? When I was hurting, you wouldn’t leave me alone, so why is this any different?”

“Because it is, Detective, and I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you right now,” he replied, pointedly avoiding her gaze. He drummed his fingers against his thigh and took a long pull from the water bottle at his side. He risked a glance in her direction, apology etched into his features. “If your unwillingness to leave is born from a certain voice message the other day, I must apologize. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly in the greatest shape, especially for where that conversation was going to lead. I promise you, I had every intention to bare all to you that night. A part of me wonders now if that’s part of what lead her to taking me. To torturing me, although I suppose that part was because I had something she wanted.”

“Her being your sister?” Chloe asked, alarmed at how quickly he sat up to face her. “Amenadiel might have mentioned something, but to be perfectly fair, I kind of forced it out of him. If I were to pull strings & allow them to use official sources to find you, I had to know at least some details.”

Lucifer nodded, a raspy cough leaving his throat before he had a chance to continue. He felt the cool press of Chloe’s hand against his forehead and the brush of the water bottle against his lips. Too tired to argue, he settled back against the couch cushions and gratefully drank several gulps before she pulled the bottle away. Her hand hadn’t moved from his face, and the longer it remained there, the heavier he felt and the more he needed to know the truth. “He told you about our sister, did he? About the sordid details of the family drama?”

Chloe screwed the top back on the bottle and started peeling the edge of the label away, pressing it back and forth with her thumb. “I waited up for over two hours that night, and when you didn’t show, I thought you’d gotten cold feet like last time. Every time we get a chance to talk about this thing that’s been going on between us, something happens. One of us gets scared, or almost dies, and--” she stopped as his hand reached out, stilling her actions with the bottle. She was concerned at the way his fingers shook as they wrapped around hers. “Lucifer, what is it?” she asked, afraid of the answer.

“What else did he tell you?” he asked, at last pulling his hand away.

“He told me that your sister had come to collect on a debt. Something about taking back what was rightfully hers, and also about setting her beloved brother straight. I fail to understand how leaving you in the desert to die could possibly do any of that, but--” she paused, looking back at him. He was full of nervous energy, and the fear was evident in his eyes. He was afraid that she knew, and while she didn’t entirely know how he’d react, she also knew that after what they’d been through, they owed each other the truth. “It was Maze who told me everything else. Or, well, everything she could. She said some of it was up to you.”

Lucifer nodded, his eyes not once leaving hers. He let out a shaky breath, not quite believing what he’d just heard. “But you _know_ , don’t you? She told you what I am?”

She wanted to cry at the pain laced through his words, but she swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded instead. “Yes.”

“Then why are you still here? If you know what I am, what I’ve _done_ , you should be as far away from me as possible. You should be locking me out of your life, not here, force feeding me water and making sure I’m okay,” he replied. He believed what he was saying, even if he didn’t want it to be true. When he looked back at her, he wasn’t surprised to see that she hadn’t moved. Leave it to her to be so insistent about this. “Thank you for coming, Detective. I appreciate it more than you can understand. But you should leave.”

“Maybe I should,” Chloe replied, tucking a leg under her as she mirrored his reclined position. She crossed her arms and shrugged. For the briefest of moments, she considered his suggestion. It would be so easy to turn away from him and pretend like the last three days hadn’t happened. Like she hadn’t learned Lucifer was everything he said he was, and that he hadn’t been captured and almost killed because of it. He was here and alive and breathing despite all of that however, and even if she wanted to, she couldn’t convince herself that leaving would be a good thing. “You think you’re this evil creature to be feared by society, that I should run from you, but I’m not going to. You’re not a bad guy, and I wish you could see that.”

“I’ve hurt people, Detective. People are _dead_ because of me. Whether it’s because I myself am directly responsible for their deaths or have been indirectly involved, the fact remains. You can’t ignore it,” he shrugged and took another pull from the water bottle. His eyelids grew heavy, and he knew sleep was imminent. After nearly dying in the desert, he was exhausted, and it would be ridiculous to think there wouldn’t be repercussions from that. Still, he wanted to fight it, if only to finish the conversation with her. Her blue eyes were brimmed with tears, but also something else he couldn’t quite place. There was also the absence of the fear he’d seen upon showing Linda his true face. “You’re not afraid of me?”

There was a vulnerability in his words she’d never heard from him before. She shook her head, but knew that wouldn’t be enough. He had to hear it. “No,” she said, tucking a tendril of hair behind her ear. She sighed, scooting closer to him. He didn’t move closer, but he didn’t shy away either, which she took to be a good sign. “I’ll admit, when Maze started explaining everything to me, I was a bit surprised. And, yes, maybe even scared,” she said, reaching for his hand before he could pull it away. “But despite that, I wasn’t scared of you, Lucifer. If anything, I was scared for you. Of what might happen to you, depending on how long you were gone, or where you’d been taken. When they found your body, I wanted to go. I wanted to be there, but they said...they weren’t sure if you were alive. Or what condition you’d be in,” she said, clutching his hand tighter. She rubbed her thumb over his wrist, both puzzled and thrilled at the pulse she felt lurking under the surface. “I know you want me to be afraid, but I’m not. So, I’m going to stay and make sure my partner makes it through this. Okay?”

“Partner,” he whispers the word, mulling it over in his head. The first time he’d heard her use it in the context of their relationship, he’d felt joy. Now, it was as if something had been cemented in place. She’d made it clear she wasn’t leaving, and at the moment he was too weak to push her away, although as he felt her tracing circles against his skin, he wasn’t sure that he’d want to. “Did Maze inform you that my Father created you? That you were a miracle destined for some purpose I haven’t entirely figured out yet, but somehow involved placing you directly in my path?”

She hoped he hadn’t heard the gasp she let slip, but the look on his face suggested he had. “She told me there were certain things that should come from you.”

He took one last gulp from the water bottle, draining it, before attempting to crush it and throw it on the floor, not caring at the moment where it landed. The thought occurred to him, something he ought to at least try; a last ditch attempt to give her an out or to allow her to make sure she knew what she was in for. “My face.”

“What about it?” she asked, curious as to what he was up to.

He winced, trying to lean on her as little as possible as he forced himself into sitting upright. He needed to remain clear headed should he attempt what he wanted to show her. “When people find out they’ve met me, the first thing they want to see is my face. Not this devilishly handsome mug, but the one behind the mask. The real one. Do you want to see it?”

The fact he was opening up to her, trusting her with this, was both a comforting and sobering thought. It was one thing to hear the facts, some of which still caused her head to spin a little bit, but it was another to actually see it. “Only if you want me to.”

Lucifer nodded, closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath. He tried telling himself he’d be okay if Chloe decided to run after this, but he wasn’t really sure that he believed it.

A few moments passed and she watched him, watched the slightest of twitches in his face. His jaw muscle tightened, and a crease formed between his eyebrows. For the briefest of moments, he eyes glowed red and she saw shadows of lines appearing across his face, but they were gone just as soon as she saw them.

His concentration broke and he bowed his head, trying to ignore the pain. “It takes longer if I’ve been injured. I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, at least not with me,” she replied. In truth, she hadn’t seen much, and she wasn’t entirely certain of why he felt that meant he’d wronged her in some way. He was clearly fighting an internal battle of sorts, but she wanted to help him through it. “Lucifer, look at me.” She sat quietly waiting until he did as she asked before continuing to speak. He’d been through a great deal and needed to rest, but she also wanted to make sure he understood her reason to stay wasn’t born out of some obligation or curiosity, but because she genuinely wanted to stay. “I’m here for you, do you hear me? Whatever that means. For however long you’ll let me. You’re _not_ going to scare me away.”

“Really?” he replied, eyes scanning her features for any signs to what she might be thinking. “After everything you’ve learned, discovering you’re a part of my dear old Dad’s master plan, you’re not running away?” he asked, taking the way she shook her head as a gesture to continue. “Do you have any questions? Surely, you must be curious. I’ll tell you whatever it is you want to know. I can’t promise you’ll be happy with me once that’s done, but--”

Chloe pressed a kiss to his forehead, carding her hands through his hair before pulling back and standing up. “I do, yeah. And when we’re both ready, I’ll ask them. But for right now what’s important to me is that you’re okay.”

He watched as she nodded to herself before turning away. Fear leaped to the surface, and he worried that he’d read her all wrong. “Where are you going?”

She stopped, waving the empty bottle he’d discarded on the floor. “You need to keep drinking water. I’m just going to get you some more.”

He closed his eyes, recalling the cool press of her lips he’d felt on his skin. They’d kissed the once, and nearly kissed a few times aside from that, but their progress towards anything more substantial had always been ground to a halt by one thing or another. He doubted that anything more would happen tonight, but he felt happy just knowing she was there. There was something calming about his Detective’s presence, whatever it might be, and so while he still had qualms regarding her original purpose, he knew that her decision to stay had been just that: her decision. He didn’t have a chance to ponder it deeper, because he felt the cushions dip under her weight and felt a damp cloth against his skin. Chloe held a new bottle to his lips, and he drank greedily for a few moments before she took it away.

“I almost forgot,” she said, fishing through her pocket for a folded piece of paper. She carefully unfolded it and held it out for him to see. “She said I had to give it to you. Doctor’s orders.”

Expecting a note of encouragement after his conversation with Doctor Linda a few days prior, he opened his mouth to explain, only to risk a glance at the page and see a child’s drawing instead. In crayon there were two figures, one which was clearly him, lying flat on a bed with a thermometer sticking out of his mouth and the other, one he guessed to be Trixie judging by the height and mirror band on her head, smiling at the bedside. At the top of the page were the words “Get Well Soon”, as if what he’d gone through were something he could simply rest and recover from as if nothing had happened. He appreciated the sentiment however, and smiled weakly as he held the page with shaky hands. “You told her about all of this?”

“No, but when you didn’t show up that night or the day after that, I had to give her some kind of explanation as to why you weren’t around,” she replied with a shrug. “She’s staying with Dan tonight. I wanted to be here.”

“You wanted to be here,” he replied, mulling the words over in his head. He wanted to come back at her with something clever about human choices and people making up their mind, but the more he sat quietly, the more he felt the urge to again shut his eyes and sleep. She offered him a drink and he took a sip, careful to not take in too much. “Chloe,” he said, her name barely more than a wisp of air from his lips. He looked at her, marveling at the understanding shining back at him. He didn’t fully get how she could remain by his side knowing what she did, but he knew better than to question it. Such things would come in time.

As if she could read his thoughts, she sidled close to him, mindful of his injuries as she snaked an arm around his middle and tilted her head to rest against his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere. Got it?”

Soon, reality would beckon. He’d probably have to track down his sister or ensure that she wouldn’t return. And eventually, he’d have to face whatever questions Chloe would surely have. But for now, he was content in the feeling of her resting softly against his side, water bottle within arm’s reach for the next time he needed to drink. It was the most comfortable he’d felt in a long time. “Yes, Detective,” he said, mouth forming the slightest of smiles as he mumbled into her hair. “I’ve got it.”


End file.
